It’s the seventh day of my 12 Days of Charitable Giving for 2017. Readers have suggested deserving charities over the past few weeks, and I’ll be posting one a day for – well, 12 days (I’m clever that way). Today’s charity is Tandem, Partners in Early Learning.
Tandem has been delivering early literacy and family engagement programming in the Bay Area for the past 13 years. The organization leverages the passions and talents of children and the adults who care for them. Tandem provides programming that engages entire communities to support each child’s early learning and future success.
As part of the organization’s programming, Tandem offers a school-to-home book-sharing program which provides families with the access they need to high-quality children’s books. Each week, children take a bag of books home to share stories with their families and then return their bag the following week in exchange for a new bag of books to begin the book-sharing cycle again. Additionally, support materials encourage families and educators to read more interactively with children by providing tips and strategies for fostering a child’s early literacy skills.
Tandem also offers workshops and training opportunities to families to deepen their knowledge of early childhood brain development and share simple, effective strategies for building language and literacy through everyday activities, including book-sharing. At the conclusion of a workshop, parents are given children’s books to take home.
So how can you help?
To make a one-time donation by credit card, head over to the organization’s donor page on its website. A gift of any size makes a difference.
You can also mail your donation. Make your checks payable to Tandem and mail to:
Tandem
1275 Fairfax Avenue, Suite 201
San Francisco, CA 94124
Tandem also accepts gifts of stock and securities. When you donate property that has appreciated in value, like stock, you may get a double benefit: Not only can you deduct the fair market value of the property (so long as you’ve owned it for at least one year), you will avoid paying capital gains tax. Normally, appreciated assets are subject to capital gains tax at disposition – whether by selling or gifting – but there’s an exception for donations to charitable organizations. Check with your tax professional – and download the Tandem Securities Donation Overview document for more information.
As always, you want to make sure that your donation is going to a qualified charitable organization. A search using the IRS’ Exempt Organizations Select Check reveals that Tandem is on the list.
To find out more about the work of the organization, check out their website, like them on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.
I often suggest checking out third-party sites like Charity Navigator for more information about charitable organizations, including evaluations and access to tax forms and other financials. Tandem is not ranked by Charity Navigator, as they have not yet filed at least 7 full years of forms 990 with the IRS.
Remember: submissions to the 12 Days of Charitable Giving are made by readers, and in most cases, I can’t personally vouch for the good work that these folks do. So be generous but be smart: Do your homework.
For more on making charitable donations, check out this prior post.
